Beware Of MLM "Training" Programs.

So, I just got off the phone with someone who called me about yet another "groundbreaking opportunity." I feel bad because I gave her such a hard time, but not on purpose. You see, in addition to my primary business, I offer a free leads generation system which makes PPC and bought leads obsolete. Since it's generic, as in it can be used with any network marketing business, I get calls from people in all kinds of companies and I always give them an opportunity to tell me about what they do so that I can help them more effectively with their leads generation.

Of course, I get the occasional promoter of the infamous "gifting program." Experience has taught me that it's pointless to tell them how their program is illegal. They refuse to hear it. So, now I just politely excuse myself from the situation and explain to them that I can't help them. Some may say I'm crazy for passing up a retail sale but I really don't want a leads capture page similar to mine out there promoting an illegal scam. Sorry.

Back to my phone call. So she tells me how her program has 2 levels either $5.50 or $100. For $5.50, you get a newsletter and the wonderful opportunity to promote this amazing program. I said, so it's like affiliate marketing only it's not free? She said, "no all of your sales go toward you getting promoted to the next level!"

OK, so what if I come in at the $100 level? She says, "you get a back office and conference calls to explain the compensation plan." The back office includes promotional materials like banners and articles. Sound familiar affiliate marketers?

Uh huh? I'm waiting for the rest. "So, what is the product?" I wonder.

Apparently, the product is "training" such as:

• How to advertise on Adland Pro
• How to talk to your bought leads

And you get this awful looking website with a bunch of hard to read text on an almost black background. My 12 year old son could make a more professional looking site. I know I sound harsh but my God, they're charging $100 for the training that your upline is supposed to provide fro free. It's an outrage!

Just to make sure I wasn't missing something, I dug deeper. I said, ok, here's what I teach my organization for free because I want them to succeed. That's what the whole point of network marketing is! I teach them:

• How to generate free leads that are exclusive to them. They use the leads capture system that is provided when they come aboard.
• How to approach people on social networks, forums, etc. The new web (web 2.0) is here people. Get used to it. Either embrace it or be left behind.
• How to talk to their prospects (obviously)
• I even show them how to build a website if they want to go beyond the 2 sites they are given.

...So, what does your "product" offer beyond this?

Now, I felt bad because she was obviously new and she really couldn't tell me what the product was. She said, about the leads generation, "you mean like traffic exchanges?"

Wow.

I'm not trying to be mean. I did not try to convince this woman that her program was bunk. She'll figure it out.

According to the FTC rules, a network marketing business is legal only if there is BOTH an income opportunity AND a retail product that can be purchased without being "recruited." If this is not the case, it's nothing more than an illegal pyramid scheme.

As I write this, I'm actually sitting here listening to the prerecorded call she sent me to. It is turning out to be exactly as I suspected, a pyramid scheme dressed up with terms like "forced matrix," "automated income," "leverage," and "spectacular income" (yes, that's a quote from the call).

Real people don't want to hear about comp plans and forced matrix and a bunch of other crap yet people are getting sucked into this kind of thing all the time. It's absolutely maddening to me so I thought I'd write this article and hopefully save at least 1 person from this fate.